


Invenietus

by Athenowl



Series: Marauders Fics [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Gen, I think? It's nothing super romantic, Just hints, Major Character Injury, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Minor Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew was a Marauder!, Remus gets real hurt y'all, Snape is the actual worst, but he's okay!, he's very good in this one, thank god Remus Lupin has common sense, the Marauder friendship will never fail to make me cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23961778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athenowl/pseuds/Athenowl
Summary: Severus Snape didn't create the Sectumsempra curse just to write it down and never use it. What better test subject than an unsuspecting Marauder who is mapping a deserted corridor?AU where Snape cast Sectumsempra on Remus during their fifth year and the Marauders came far too close to losing one of their own.
Series: Marauders Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1737466
Comments: 8
Kudos: 141





	Invenietus

Remus was starting to regret the map. Granted, he was the one who had dreamt the bloody thing up in the first place and granted, he had suggested taking shifts to map the whole castle, but Merlin’s _beard_ , his feet were sore. He didn’t even have the real map, either: three hours of crouching and measuring and drawing, and he’d have to do it all over again later. _We should start doing this in pairs, so nobody dies of boredom_ , Remus thought as he stood on his tiptoes, knees screaming in protest.

Footsteps echoed in the hall behind Remus. “Sirius, if you’re here to gloat, kindly fuck off. How’d you even get here? Corridor’s closed for another hour.”

“That’s good to know. Working on your ‘class project’ again?” _Fantastic_.

Remus sighed and turned around. “Afternoon, Snivellus. Fortunately, I’m too preoccupied to talk to you right now.”

Snape’s face twisted. “You think you’re so clever, but you’re not. You’re no better than anyone else here.”

“Funny, I don’t recall saying I was.” Remus squinted down at the parchment in his hand. Was it three centimeters to scale or four? It would take ages to get his place back. “Now run along to Slughorn, I heard he was teaching a de-greasing tonic today. It would be a real travesty if you missed that.”

“You know, I’ve been working on my own project, _Moony_.”

 _Holy hell, can he not take a hint_. “I really couldn’t care less. Go find some other corner to sulk in, I’m busy.”

“Not for long,” Snape said. Something dark laced his tone and Remus looked up to see a wand pointed directly at him. “ _Sectumsempra_!”

A bright light slammed into Remus’ chest and sent him staggering backward as sharp pain sliced through him. _Never heard of that spell before_ , he thought in a daze. Something warm and sticky was spreading through his shirt and his knees buckled as a fresh wave of agony prickled in his torso. He barely registered hitting the ground.

“Enjoy your new scars.” Snape’s face loomed in Remus’ hazy vision. “If you live that long.”

Quick footsteps echoed off the walls as Snape fled, leaving him dizzy and gasping on the floor. Remus could hear his own wheezing breaths as the blood soaked through his shirt and began pooling around him. He couldn’t recall the amount of blood in a human body, but he had the sinking suspicion he was about to find out firsthand. The dampness reached the side of Remus’ hand and he watched as it seeped into the parchment he was clutching. Three hours of perfect measurements for the damn map, wasted.

 _The map_.

An idea struck Remus and he struggled to hold onto his wand with numb fingers. “ _Invenietus_ ,” he croaked. A coppery taste filled his mouth. _Come on, Lupin._ “ _Invenietus_.” The map wasn’t done yet, so his half-mad plan may not even work, but Remus Lupin was best friends with Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and James fucking Potter. He was the king of desperate hope in times of crisis.

 _Oh, no._ Sirius. Peter. James. If the spell failed, they would find him dead on the floor, surrounded by his own blood. If the spell failed, they would never find the culprit. If the spell failed, Remus would never see his best friends again. “ _Invenietus_.” A weak pulse of magic shone from the tip of Remus’ wand and black spots danced in his eyes. He couldn’t feel his limbs anymore, but his chest was burning and ice-cold at the same time as panic latched in. “ _Invenietus, invenietus, invenietus_ , please James. Sirius, Peter, please.” Tears began to slide down Remus’ face and he didn’t have the strength to do more than twitch his fingers. “Find me. Find me, please.” The foggy shapes on the ceiling faded into darkness. “ _Invenietus. Invenietus._ ”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Uh, guys?” Sirius’ voice snapped James’ train of thought like a cheap sugar quill. “The map’s glowing.”

“What?” There was a thump as Peter slid off his bed and wandered to the table.

“Map’s glowing.”

“Yeah, we heard you the first time.” James rolled his eyes and turned in his seat. “ _Why_ , pray tell, is the map glowing?”

“I dunno, it just started going off.” Indeed, the brainchild of the four Marauders was shining with a faint red light, like a miniature heartbeat. “Hang on, didn’t Moony cast some kind of tracking spell on it the other night? So we could find each other?”

Peter frowned. “Yeah, inveni-something. It’s supposed to make the map glow blue, though, unless…”

“Unless what?” Fear settled in James’ gut as the color drained from Peter’s face. “Wormtail, unless _what_?”

“Unless the caster is in mortal danger. We have to go _right now_.”

“His shift was on the second-floor corridor, near the One-Eyed Witch. Peter, run and get McGonagall and Pomfrey just in case, you’re the fastest,” James ordered, shooting to his feet. Peter was already halfway out the door as Sirius grabbed for his wand. “Sirius, come with me, and be ready for a fight.”

Mapping the entirety of Hogwarts was a daunting task and painstaking to say the least, but it gave the four boys an intimate knowledge of every secret passage in the castle: what would have been a ten-minute sprint through crowded halls turned into a two-minute scramble through a tunnel with Sirius’ bright _lumos_ leading the way. “Remus!” James nearly fell off the hidden ladder they were clambering down at Sirius’ shout and had to jump the last few feet to recover. At first, his brain didn’t process the scene ahead. Sirius was kneeling on the floor at the end of the corridor next to a limp body in a pool of red ink.

 _Not ink_. _Blood_. “No, no.” James sprinted down the hall, all thoughts of battle gone from his mind as he sprinted to Sirius. The body between them couldn’t be Remus Lupin. _His_ skin was a warm tan, not dull gray. Moony was always in motion, casting spells or jumping from idea to idea—these glassy, unfocused eyes and motionless limbs couldn’t belong to him. Dried tears striped his cheeks. “Oh, _hell_ , he’s still bleeding.”

“I know, I know,” Sirius said, his voice catching on the edge of a sob. “But he’s breathing. Merlin, James, he’s still alive.”

James fumbled with his wand as Sirius helped open Remus’ crimson shirt. He swallowed down bile and a horrified cry as a web of sharp cuts were revealed, small rivulets of blood streaming down his sides. “ _Consarcio_.” James’ hand shook as he traced his wand over one of the slashes. “ _Consarcio_!” The wound didn’t close, but the bleeding trickled to a stop. Sirius had removed his outer robes and was pressing them down on Remus’ right side to staunch the flow, but his palms were turning redder by the second. “Sirius, give me a hand, we have to close these as much as we can.”

“If I let go, he’ll bleed out—”

“He’s going to do that anyway unless we close these!” James snapped. Sirius recoiled at his tone and guilt stabbed down to James’ bones. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, we just have to—”

“Mr. Potter! Mr. Black! What on earth are you—oh, dear Godric.” James had never been happier to hear Professor McGonagall’s sharp voice in his life. There was a rustle of robes and suddenly she was next to James, wand at the ready. “Poppy, come quick. Remus Lupin’s been attacked. Boys, what happened?”

“I don’t know. I don’t—I don’t know, Professor, we just found him like this.” Tears of relief and fear stung James’ eyes as the blind instinct to _just heal him, damn it_ faded away and he suddenly became keenly aware of the fact that he was kneeling in his best friend’s blood. “Oh, god, he’s dying. Professor, he’s—Remus is dying.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” McGonagall moved aside for Madam Pomfrey and leveled her gaze on James. “James Potter, do not go into shock right now. That goes for you as well, Sirius. Remus is going to be just fine.”

“I’ve never seen a curse like this,” Madam Pomfrey muttered as she waved her wand over Remus’ torso. “Mr. Black, would you remove your hands so I can get a better look?”

Sirius shook his head and stared at Madam Pomfrey with pleading eyes. “I can’t. The bleeding hasn’t stopped here, and healing spells won’t mend the cuts fast enough.”

“My spells will,” Madam Pomfrey soothed, prying Sirius’ hands away and peeling back the robes. Remus’ head lolled to the side and James was relieved to see his eyes had closed. Now he just looked asleep, instead of…

Remus’ wand slipped from his fingers and clattered on the stone floor. “He was casting a spell,” McGonagall said softly, picking it up with careful hands. “Protecting himself, perhaps.”

“No.” James shook his head and leaned into Peter’s side, unable to take his eyes off Remus’ face. “No, he was trying to help us find him.”

“Find him? What makes you think that?” McGonagall asked.

“We made this map of the castle so we can always find each other.” James wiped his streaming nose with his sleeve and tried to speak around the lump in his throat. “He was supposed to be covering this section when—when he—” A small piece of crumpled paper was on the floor next to Remus’ hand, half-soaked in red. James picked it up and unfolded it to show McGonagall the smudged drawing. “See?” _The most careful measurements of us all, but the absolute worst handwriting_.

“He was so excited when he figured out the tracking spell.” Peter’s voice sounded hollow. “Stayed up the whole night trying to make it work. He’s going to be okay, right?”

“Mr. Lupin will be fine, as long as I can keep a close eye on him.” Madam Pomfrey cast another spell and the last of the cuts began to seal up. “He lost a lot of blood, though. You boys are lucky you found him when you did.”

“He had time to cast a tracking spell, which means he was conscious after the initial attack. Once he wakes, we’ll have a suspect.” McGonagall rose slowly. “Poppy, please take Mr. Lupin to the hospital wing as quietly as possible so we don’t alarm the other students. The three of you, come to my office immediately.”

“We’re not leaving him.” Sirius gripped Remus’ hand tighter and stared at James, who nodded in response.

“You saved his life today. I’m afraid there’s nothing more you can do for him except help me make a list of possible culprits.”

“We can be there when he wakes up,” James said adamantly. “We’re going to be there, Professor. We’re _always_ there.”

Madam Pomfrey placed her hand gently on Professor McGonagall’s. “Minerva, it can’t hurt.”

They must have seemed either too determined or too frightened to reason with, because McGonagall eventually sighed and nodded. “Very well. Stand up, then.” The three of them obliged, leaning on one another for support as she removed the blood from their clothes and the floor with a quick flourish of her wand.

 _James Potter, do not go into shock._ “Padfoot, you alright?” James wrapped one arm around Sirius’ shoulders and linked the other with Peter’s elbow, partially for his own benefit. He wasn’t sure his legs were strong enough to carry him through the castle alone.

Sirius shook his head. “We almost lost him. If we had taken the normal route—”

“Let’s not think about that,” James interrupted. Madam Pomfrey levitated Remus and began to walk down the hall. He already felt like someone had ripped out his insides and put them back all wrong; horrible, world-shattering scenarios from Sirius were not going to help anyone. “We got there in time, which is what matters now. Wormtail?”

“I’ll be better when he’s awake.”

“Madam Pomfrey, you can’t go that way right now,” James called as they turned toward the moving staircases. “It’s Wednesday the 5th, so the moving stairs don’t let anyone up to the second floor. There’s a tunnel behind that statue that leads straight to the infirmary.” _Do not go into shock._

The nurse shared a look with Professor McGonagall, who spread her hands in exasperation. “Very well, Mr. Potter, lead the way.”

James, Sirius, and Peter lit their wands as bright as possible as they walked through the walls of the castle, careful to point out any stray tiles or cobwebs. The lights of the hospital wing were blinding when they reappeared just outside the doors as promised, a little dusty but grateful for the shortcut. Madam Pomfrey called a few assistants to help bandage Remus’ torso as the other four settled into chairs by his bed and tried to take a few deep breaths. “Can you think of anyone who would want to harm Remus?” McGonagall asked at last.

“He clocked Lucius Malfoy a couple of weeks ago,” Sirius offered. “Malfoy isn’t smart enough for that kind of advanced Dark magic, though.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Malfoy called Lily Evans the m-word, so Remus tracked him down and punched him in the nose,” Peter explained. “Bloody brilliant, really.”

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. “Well, if it happened weeks ago then it’s much too late for Mr. Lupin to get in any trouble for it. I’ll keep Mr. Malfoy as a suspect, but I want you to know that accusing another student of an attack like this is quite severe.”

“Hang on.” Puzzle pieces began clicking into place in James’ head. “Madam Pomfrey said she’d never seen that curse. Who do we know that hates the lot of us and has a brain that’s twisted enough to come up with a spell like that?”

“Lestrange?”

“Literally any of my family members?”

“ _Snivellus_.” James looked down at Remus’ bandages. “I’ll bet you anything Severus Snape did this.”

“Again, Mr. Potter, accusing fellow students of attempted murder is not to be taken lightly. I must discourage any rash actions based on mere suspicion,” McGonagall warned. “We won’t have an answer until Mr. Lupin wakes up.”

“Don’t worry, Professor,” James said, tightening his hold on Sirius and Peter. “We’re not going anywhere.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remus was in the hospital wing, and he wasn’t dead. That was a good start. Unfortunately, he was still in pain, but it had become much easier to breathe around the knives in his lungs. His wand was gone—had Snape come back and taken it? Had it rolled away when the darkness closed in? Something else, something warm, was twined with his fingers now.

White light blended with the smell of antiseptic as Remus opened his eyes and blinked at the infirmary ceiling. He slowly turned his head to the side and smiled when he saw Peter and Sirius fast asleep on each other in cramped chairs with James sitting vigil and staring out the window, absentmindedly running his thumb over Remus’ knuckles. “Morning, Prongs.”

James jolted in his seat and startled the other two awake. “Oh, thank Merlin.” He practically launched himself at Remus and wrapped him in a bear hug, quickly followed by Sirius and Peter until a nurse came over and shooed them off. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything? What hurts?”

“I’m feeling much better now,” Remus assured, then grimaced as his throat stung. “Is there any water?”

Sirius’ eyes scanned his face as James poured a glass, like he was memorizing each plane and angle. “We thought we lost you,” he said softly, brushing a stray curl off Remus’ forehead.

Remus reached up and squeezed his hand. “I promise I’m okay. How did you find me? Did the map spell work?”

“Like a charm.” Peter beamed at him. “You’re brilliant. The whole thing lit up like a Christmas tree and we got to you just in time. Stay put, McGonagall wanted to see you as soon as you woke up.”

The coolness of the water as Remus swallowed it in three gulps was pure magic. He reached for the jug on the nightstand and winced as invisible stitches in his chest pulled, pinching and itching with each sudden movement. Sirius refilled his glass and Remus smiled gratefully. “Mr. Lupin, it’s good to see you awake,” Professor McGonagall said as she walked toward his bed.

“Good to be back, Professor.” Remus inhaled sharply as he tried to sit up and instantly regretted it. The world went fuzzy for a moment and bells began screeching in his ears as pain lanced through him. “Ow.”

“Moony? Remus, what’s wrong?” James’ voice was a battering ram.

“One second,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. _Breathe in, breathe out_. The white noise faded and he leaned back again, forcing his muscles to relax. “Sorry, I moved a little too fast. Where were we?”

“I need you to tell me as much as you can remember about the attack. If we can get a list of possible suspects, we can check their wands for hexes.” McGonagall hesitated and patted him gently on the shin. “It’s alright if you can’t recall the face of your attacker. It was a traumatic experience, and memories can be deceiving—”

“Severus Snape.” The name was bitter on Remus’ tongue. He knew Snape was awful, but he never thought he would go this far. “Severus Snape did this. He used a spell called _sectumsempra_.” Phantom pain wound its way through Remus’ torso at the curse. It even sounded evil, like the hiss of a rattlesnake just before it struck.

McGonagall’s frown deepened. “I see. Do you believe he cast it without knowing its full effects?”

Snape’s grinning face, distorted through a lens of pain as Remus lay helpless on the floor, swam in his memory and he gripped his blankets. “Snape knew exactly what he was doing. He told me to enjoy my new scars, if I lived that long.”

“That slimy bastard,” Sirius snarled, shooting to his feet. James’ face turned stormy and Peter swore under his breath. “Where is he?”

“Sit _down_ , Mr. Black,” Professor McGonagall reprimanded. “I’ll not have any more hexes flying today, no matter what Mr. Snape said. I assure you he will be punished for this behavior.”

“ ‘This behavior’?” James sputtered. “He tried to kill Remus!”

“Did he have any accomplices?” McGonagall continued, showing no sign of hearing James’ protest.

“No, it was just us. He came up behind me and cursed me after I told him to find another corner to sulk in. He ran once I hit the floor.”

“And you’re sure there was nobody else in the corridor? Can you remember anything after you fell?”

 _Every agonizing breath, every desperate spell, and every frantic hope that someone would help me before my best friends found my dead body in the hallway_ , Remus thought. “No, it was just Snape. The moving staircases don’t lead to the second-floor corridor if the fifth day of the month falls on a Wednesday, so nobody was supposed to be there except me. I passed out pretty soon after he hexed me.” _No sense in upsetting them more with the details._

“Very well.” McGonagall peered over her glasses at the others. “I expect you three to stay put while I inform Professor Slughorn and Headmaster Dumbledore of the situation.” She paused and looked down at Remus with more kindness than he had ever seen before. “I truly am glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks, Professor. I can’t just leave these three to get into trouble without me, can I?” Remus dipped his head toward the others with his best attempt at a carefree grin. “They’d be hopeless.”

“Hopeless, indeed.” McGonagall scoffed, but she couldn’t hide her half-smile as she swept off.

“Speaking of, you didn’t do anything stupid while I was out, did you?” Remus cocked an eyebrow at the other Marauders.

“Never without you, Moons,” James promised.

“Good, I’d hate to miss out on the fun.” Remus thought back to the map, then remembered the bloody parchment in the hallway. “Oh, fuck.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Peter straightened in alarm, ready to run for a nurse at any moment.

“The map. It got ruined, didn’t it? I’m so sorry, that was the last piece of the second floor,” Remus mourned. He had been barely ten minutes from finishing it when Snape arrived.

“Are you fucking kidding?” James asked. “Moony, please tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not?”

“For the love of—who _cares_ about the map? We can go back and sketch it again once you’re better.” James shook his head. “You have the absolute worst priorities, I swear. You almost get killed and you’re worried about a piece of parchment.”

“Sorry.”

“Oh, move over, you daft beanpole,” James grumbled. “You look pathetic when you apologize and there’s no way all four of us are going to fit in that cot with you hogging all the space.”

Remus couldn’t hold down a laugh as Peter, James, and Sirius twisted and tumbled into the little bed. “You know, Padfoot is softer and smaller if you wanted to make this a little easier on yourselves.”

“I’m pretty sure the nurses would notice a massive black dog curled up in your bed.”

“True. The fleas wouldn’t make the situation any better, either.” Peter poked Sirius in the ribs and smirked.

“I don’t have fleas!”

“Sure, you don’t.” James rolled his eyes and cuddled closer to Remus’ side. “The mad scratching is all for show, then?”

“Hey, Moony?”

“Yeah, Pads?”

“You’ll have to teach us that tracking spell sometime. It would be a real shame if Wormtail got stuck in another ceiling vent without a backup plan.”

“How about I teach you the spell _and_ we start traveling in pairs? That way you’ll have an out once you get stuck trying to help Pete.”

“Deal.”

They dissolved into laughter and Remus felt a deep well of happiness grow in him, shining golden beneath the fresh wounds in his chest. Tingling warmth spread from the tips of his fingers through every bone in his body; he could have easily cast a Patronus at the drop of a hat. His best friends were surrounding him, happy and so undeniably alive. _He_ was alive, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Invenietus = finding spell, taken from the Latin word "inveniet" because this is MY Marauders AU and I can make up any spells I want  
> Corsacio = healing spell, taken from the Latin word for "stitch" or "join" because all the canon healing spells were for broken bones and that would not have helped at all in this situation
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please leave comments and kudos, as they are the only things that keep me writing! I have one or two more ideas for Marauders fics so far!
> 
> Come talk to me on Tumblr at @wayward-demigod-witch!


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